Jumpy Things
by wikelia
Summary: The gang discovers trampolines, and talk. Oneshot.


Everyone had once again spent the morning making fun of Dragon Fly. It was their loss, really, it was going to be brilliant and he'd be flying and they would all watch from the ground. Well, unless, they got on their dragons and flew right beside him. Yeah. That was a certain kink in the plan.

Even Toothless seemed to be annoyed with him. The latest leather that he had bought about a fifty foot roll off didn't work at all. It was too springy and not good enough to fly. Disgruntled, Hiccup had tossed the huge thing over a circular metal bar that him was supposed to be another experiment for submerging in water, but him and Fishlegs never got around to it. Annoyed that it kept drooping, Hiccup had tied the leather to the sides, and then went back to work. Now, he could work peacefully.

Correction, he could have worked peacefully if the twins had not started giggling behind him.

"What in the name of Thor are you two -" He turned around, and then his eyes widened as he saw Ruff and Tuff jumping on the leather. "- doing?"

"Duh, we're jumping. It's fun!" Ruff said, and with a twinkle in her eye grabbed Hiccup's arm and pulled him up. He protested - with his metal leg, it could be dangerous, but he quieted down when they actually started jumping.

It was fun.

"This is actually...not bad," Hiccup admitted, a small grin spreading across his face.

"Not bad?" Ruff asked incredulously, while Tuff exclaimed at the same time, "It's great!"

"Uh, Hiccup?" Astrid was standing by the doorway, Snotlout and Fishlegs behind her. She looked amused. "What are you doing?"

"Jumping!" he shouted, suddenly feeling giddy. The exhilaration wasn't even close to flying, but it was still so cool to get a breeze rushing past your face without going outside.

"Come on! It's fun!" Tuff shouted, gesturing for the three teens to join.

Astrid shook her head firmly, but Snotlout and Fishlegs wasted no time in climbing onto the thing that Hiccup had accidentally created. Within seconds, the two boys were whooping. Snotlout looked scared at first, but then shrugged it off and smirked as he jumped. No one commented on how he was still holding Fishlegs' hand.

"Milady?" Hiccup grinned at his girlfriend. "Won't you join us?"

"Go die in a pit, all of you," was her response, but she had a warm smile on her face, as though watching the rest of them have fun was the greatest thing she had ever seen.

They all shared knowing looks. Fishlegs jumped off, and before Astrid could protest, he picked her up by the waist (very daintily, mind you), and placed her on the jumpy thing with the rest of them, with Astrid's shrieks echoing in all their ears. Hiccup laughed, taking her hand and balancing her so she could jump properly. She punched him and Fishlegs both on the shoulder, but did start jumping.

And soon they were all jumping, and laughing, and Tuffnut said, "I told you I inventiated."

"Invented," they all groaned, but Snotlout smiled, and Ruffnut shook her head fondly. She was jumping the highest, and Hiccup had no idea how, although he was trying to match her.

"This is so much better than the boring stuff you usually have us do," Snotlout teased as he bumped into Astrid, who pushed him back.

"That boring stuff is necessary."

"Not all of it," Astrid said softly. Hiccup turned to her in surprise. She spoke up.

"Hic, you can't deny we do way more work than we're supposed to. I think the only reason we don't faint is that we're...well, we're constantly in battle. It's hard for us to get tired."

Fishlegs winced as he added, "So when we do get tired, like we have been lately, it means that we really are doing way too much. We need to relax." He paused. "You need to relax, too."

"The Midnight Sun didn't affect you at all," Ruff drawled, jumping higher than ever. Now, he could see Astrid trying to compete with her too. "I mean, it did, but not that much. Not like us. Which proves that you're so used to getting little sleep, that it basically didn't hurt you."

Everyone grimaced when she brought up those two weeks, but they quickly moved on as Snotlout added, "Yeah, she's right, you know. You barely sleep, you barely give yourself a break."

"Everyone needs a break, H." Tuff grinned at him.

They were all staring at him. A few years ago, his face would have grown hot, and he would have excused himself, stuttering. Now, he merely shrugged and said:

"I don't like taking breaks."

Astrid gave him an understanding look, and squeezed his hand, while Ruff and Tuff gasped dramatically, before they tackled him, pushing him off the trampoline and onto the hard wooden floor.

"Guys! For Thor's sake!"

Snotlout laughed loudly, but Tuff looked horrified. Cupping Hiccup's face, he said, "You are a poor, depressed soul."

Through giggles, Astrid said, "Leave him alone, guys." Her amused tone did not convince them, so she stepped off, physically pulling the twins off him. Now in Astrid's arms bridal style, Tuff did not look even slightly reassured.

"He's a boring monster."

"That he is," she agreed, her eyes lighting up as she grinned at Hiccup on the floor.

Fishlegs stopped jumping too, out of breath. He stepped off, and Snotlout, probably deciding that the jumpy thing wasn't fun alone, followed suit. Both boys collapsed next to Hiccup, and as Tuff scrambled out of Astrid's arms, Ruff (who was on her back) pushed both girls down so they were all lying with their heads in the middle.

"I love you guys," Tuff murmured, closing his eyes, "you're pretty."

They all broke out into a fit of laughter, and then Hiccup spoke up. "We should do this again. It was fun."

"Way to make it weird. It sounds like a date," Snotlout groaned, reaching over to flick Hiccup's ear, "but yeah, it was fun. No thanks to you, Mr. Don't Take A Break."

"Lay off him," Astrid said, still laughing and holding her stomach. Hiccup didn't help, poking her stomach and sending her into another fit of giggles as they started a poking war.

"That goes for you too, Ms. Go Die In A Pit!"

Ruffnut yawned, stretching her arms. "You guys should shut up once in awhile."

Hiccup had been about to say something, but found he quite agreed with her and kept quiet. Later he would tell them that the jumpy thing would not have been invented if not for Dragon Fly.

Later. For now, he was content to just lie there.


End file.
